An older recording of a White-breasted Waterhen (Uwak) making less commonly heard calls. Many of us would be familiar with the ‘classical’, calls these bird make – a cacophony of loud, raucous notes that are answered by the mate – often sounding like its local name “uwak-wak-wak-wak”. The bird also has larger repertoire of other calls. One that I hear infrequently is the one shown in the video (video here: https://youtu.be/ELHfqhO3Cqo). They are discrete, repetitive calls made every 1.2 seconds (16 calls in 19 seconds) and last 0.2-0.3 of a second. Few authors describe them. Craig Robson (Field Guide to Birds of SE Asia 2002) alludes to them as contact calls and describes them as “pwik”. B

Bird was most likely calling from dense undergrowth. This species is definitely one of the most common species seen and heard in this area. This recording was however interrupted by a myna species, hence that whistle. This myna species ID will be kept anonymous presumably for conservation purposes.

The subject was calling inside a dense undergrowth by the roadside. The sound itself is not the high pitched chirping recorded but rather it is the one calling through at the beginning. . The sound is most clear at around 0:06 to 0:13. ID certain at 80%.